The Educational Wealth Fund (EWF) is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

in England and Wales. The EWF is building a permanent endowment fund to provide grants to non-selective

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

s in the United Kingdom.

Overview

The EWF seeks to fund capital projects which provide schoolchildren, and their communities with a sense of awe, inspiration and wonder. It has five priority themes: * Creative Arts * Sustainability * Local Culture * Peace * Mental Health One of the stated aims of the EWF is to enhance the position of education within national culture, citing calls by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

and the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

on the vital need to improve globally the image and status of the teaching profession. The EWF notes that the highest performing education systems around the world are also supported by a national culture which prizes education and holds the teaching profession in high regard. To this end, the EWF seeks to raise the profile of education by funding projects which will create positive and inspiring stories about learning and teaching, such as; life-size dinosaur skeletons, wonderous libraries, art galleries, full-scale kitchen gardens, planetariums, world-class sculpture, landscaped gardens, music centres, and events involving renowned artists.

History

The charity was founded in 2020 by British science teacher Jason West

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

. Since publication of its vision the EWF has attracted wide support from economists, academics, authors, artists, TV and cultural personalities, including two former Presidents of the Royal Society.“Patrons and Supporters”
“The Educational Wealth Fund. Retrieved 13 October 2020 Jason cites that he was inspired by Carl Sagan's 1994

Pale Blue Dot ''Pale Blue Dot'' is a photograph of Earth taken on February 14, 1990, by the ''Voyager 1'' space probe from an unprecedented distance of over kilometers ( miles, 40.5 AU), as part of that day's ''Family Portrait'' series of images of th ...

speech given at Cornell University which questioned the futility of conflict, and humanities vision for its place on Earth.

Notable patrons

Administration

The EWFs founder, Jason West, was appointed by the board of trustees to become its first Chief Executive in July 2020. The Board of Trustees include: Sir Peter Birkett (Chair from 2020), Junita Fernandez, Lucian J Hudson, Zoe Raven, Andrew Harris, Victoria Mayes, Richard Bywater, Robert Gifford, Stuart Young and Chris Bridgman MBE. Youth Advisors include Amy and Ella Meek founders of Kids Against Plastic.

References

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External links

Official website
Educational charities based in the United Kingdom Educational foundations based in the United Kingdom